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Table of Contents

About the Author and Creator of the Agile Sports Framework™ .............................................. 3

Purpose of the Agile Sports Framework™ .................................................................................. 4

Why Is It Time For Change? .................................................................................................... 5

Agile Sports Framework™........................................................................................................... 6

Benefits of Adopting the Agile Sports Philosophy ...................................................................... 6

10 Principles That Drive Agile Sports Framework™ ................................................................... 7

Six Pillars of the Agile Sports Framework™ .............................................................................. 10

Data ...................................................................................................................................... 10

Transparency ........................................................................................................................ 10

Inspection ............................................................................................................................. 10

Adaptation ............................................................................................................................ 10

Self-Organization .................................................................................................................. 11

Synergy ................................................................................................................................. 11

Key Roles of an Agile Sports Organization ............................................................................... 11

Lead Analyst.......................................................................................................................... 12

Players .................................................................................................................................. 13

Coach .................................................................................................................................... 14

Architect ............................................................................................................................... 14

General Manager .................................................................................................................. 15

Assistant Coaches ................................................................................................................. 15

Scouts ................................................................................................................................... 16

The Agile Sports Consultant ................................................................................................. 16

Agile Sports Events ................................................................................................................... 17

The Sprint ............................................................................................................................. 17

Sprint Planning Session......................................................................................................... 19

Post-Game Meeting .............................................................................................................. 21


Sprint Review Meeting ......................................................................................................... 22

Sprint Retrospective ............................................................................................................. 23

Game Management .............................................................................................................. 24

Agile Sports Framework™ Tools ............................................................................................... 24

Performance Metrics Log ..................................................................................................... 24

Sprint Performance Dashboard ............................................................................................ 25

Agility Points Portfolio .......................................................................................................... 25

Sprint Performance Plan ....................................................................................................... 26

Player Agility Cards ............................................................................................................... 26

Team Agility Cards ................................................................................................................ 27

Burndown Charts .................................................................................................................. 27

10 Game Increment .............................................................................................................. 27

Sprint Scouting Reports ........................................................................................................ 27

Post-Game Surveys ............................................................................................................... 28

Sprint Schedule ..................................................................................................................... 28

The Importance of Artifact Transparency ............................................................................ 28

Monitoring Team Progress in Agile Sports ............................................................................... 29

Monitoring Sprint Progress .................................................................................................. 29

Monitoring Progress towards Team Goals ........................................................................... 29

Defining “Success” in Agile Sports ........................................................................................ 30

Estimating Player “Agility” toward Team Goals ....................................................................... 30

Tracking Velocity Using the Agile Sports Framework™ ............................................................ 31

Transitioning From Traditional Analytics to the Agile Sports Framework™ ............................ 32


About the Author and Creator of the Agile Sports

Framework™

Victor Holman is a business performance expert, management consultant, speaker, and

author. His thought leadership in business performance, organizational performance and

process improvement has been demonstrated in books, frameworks and products he’s

published over the last 20 years. Victor has served as a performance expert, project manager

and management consultant to over 50 government agencies worldwide and a hundred

corporations of all sizes. He’s been featured in major television, radio and print media outlets

for his ability to help small businesses outperform their competition by applying strategies,

frameworks and management tools that work for large, successful businesses.

Victor’s true passion however, is sports and his love for analytics. The Agile Sports

Framework™ and processes are an adaptation based on the performance management and

systems development frameworks Victor has implemented and lessons he has learned over

the years as a consultant. Victor believes that like small businesses, less talented sports

programs can level the playing field by applying a framework that transcends their analytics

programs beyond management decision making and into quantitative value delivered by the

players.

Victor created the Agile Sports Framework™ with the dream that all young athletes will

understand how they can leverage their unique set of skills, data and player IQ to create

value and reach personal and team goals. Victor can help any team apply Agile Sports to

their existing data and analytics systems to help players measure agility, increase IQ and

create synergy. His Agile Sports Analytics Software automates the Agile Sports process and

ensures teams reach their season goals.


Purpose of the Agile Sports Framework™ There’s a saying, “what gets measured gets done”. This concept can be validated by simply

asking anybody who has held a job and goes through an annual review process. The human

brain is wired to achieve once we are able to create clear, measurable goals and a plan for

reaching them. If teams can successfully identify metrics that capture the intangible

attributes that drive team success, and present it in a format where players can clearly

understand and decide what they can do to create value, then a shift from the individual

mentality to the team first mentality will occur, and teams will achieve synergy. Synergy is

the interaction or cooperation of the players to deliver a combined value greater than the

sum of their separate value. Synergy is the state that every team should strive to reach and

maintain. Agile Sports helps teams identify these strategies and achieve synergy faster.

This guide provides a framework that every team can apply to their existing analytic and

reporting system to translate their data to results on the court, field or ice.

Kevin Pelton wrote in an ESPN article titled Advanced Stats Are Changing the Game and

Leaving Some Big Markets Behind:

"Organizations risk realizing no advantage from investment in an analytics program if they do

not also invest in understanding and planning how to integrate analytics into the decision-

making process."

This is true. And many teams are capitalizing on data to make informed management

decisions. But while team analysts utilize spatial data, neural networks, and advanced

algorithms to discover new ways to measure agility and make decisions, they fail to truly

yield the benefits of analytics by not translating these tools used for decision-making into

tools that players can understand, create value and translate to actions on the court, field or

ice. Success in analytics cannot be achieved until they are translated into a common

language where players can fully understand them, and discover on their own, how they can

add more value to help their team achieve its goals.

Access to real time analytics necessary to accurately evaluate team and player performance

without the need of a coach’s “expert judgement” is changing the way we approach the

game. With the data available today every athlete should be a student of the game and an

analyst. Teams that find success in today’s competitive sports landscape will be the ones that

have a deep understanding of analytics, clearly defined goals, a plan to execute them, total

buy-in to the plan, and the ability to self-organize, create synergy and continuously improve.

The Agile Sports Framework™ is based on the Scrum principle of collective empiricism, or the

concept that teams with high IQ gained through deliberate and repeated inspection and

adaptation achieve synergy and reach their goals the fastest. Ken Schwaber and Jeff


Sutherland developed Scrum for application development and project execution, and this

Agile Sports guide applies Scrum framework principles, Agile methodologies and

performance management processes to provide a roadmap for building a agility driven,

continuously improving sports team. This guide contains the definition of Agile Sports, the

roles of an agile sports team, the method for managing and delivering a team built on the

principles which guide the Agile Sports Framework™, the tools that drive value creation, and

the processes that bind them together.

Why Is It Time For Change? Professional sports are advancing at a lightning pace. Data is available on a scale never

before seen. The popularity of sports continues to rise and salary caps are at an all-time high.

With change being a constant, teams that surface to the top are the teams that are able to

absorb the information coming in, translate it to meaningful information, make quick,

informed decisions and yield constant, quantifiable improvements. And with salaries

skyrocketing through the roof, more and more teams are finding themselves with big

contracts and little returns to show for it. Over the next few years, the organizations that are

able to architect rosters with players who can learn how to add quantifiable value and

contribute to the team’s overall goals will reap the greatest returns. And the teams that do

not adapt their data and player development models to reflect the speed of new information

and change will find themselves on the bottom.

The main challenge that is keeping sports teams from unlocking the full potential of their

data is their inability to translate complex data sets into data that players (the ones

executing the work) can easily understand and identify ways to add value. Data is useless if it

can’t be easily analyzed and acted on by players.

Other challenges that the Agile Sports Framework™ helps teams resolve include the

following:

The culture to constantly hire new coaches expecting different results

Lack of player discipline or buy-in to coach’s strategy

Staff (player) turnover from discontent or greed

Inability to accurately measure player agility based on intangibles

Lack of clarity/transparency of goals

Lack of team identity and understanding how each player encompasses that identity

Adapting to change (trades, injuries, firings, etc.)

Lack of ball or puck movement and court, field or ice spacing

Lack of investment to teaching players analytics and sports IQ


Agile Sports Framework™ The Agile Sports Framework™ uncovers better ways of creating team synergy, improving

team dynamics and applying real-time and historical analytics in order to reach team

goals. The rules of the Agile Sports Framework™ integrates the pillars, roles, events, and

tools guiding the relationships and interactions between them.

Agile Sports employs an iterative, incremental approach to optimize performance and

adapt quickly to change. The concepts of agile sports are described throughout this

guide. Complete buy-in to philosophy, team strategy and game plan coupled with

commitment to continuously gain a deeper understanding of how to measure team and

player agility through analytics are key fundamentals to this process.

Through the Agile Sports Framework™ teams will come to value:

Team goals and accountability over personal achievements

Intuitiveness and sports IQ over set plays and coaching

Continuous improvement over quick fixes through trades

Incremental adaptation over long term plans

Analytics and empiricism over expert judgement

Discovering new metrics over traditional statistics

In the Agile Sports Framework™ value is placed on the fundamentals, focus is placed on team

synergy, and no player is more important than the team. Each player maximizes their value

based on the needs of the team for any particular game or matchup (See Estimating Player

“Agility” toward Team Goals).

Benefits of Adopting the Agile Sports Philosophy Teams following the Agile Sports Framework™ can expect to:

Adapt a higher quality style of play: High performance is achieved through

techniques such as real time analytics, continuous improvement, iterative

adaptation, team synergy.

Gain knowledge through empiricism: Increased knowledge comes from focusing

more on high-value performance measurement, aligning player goals to team needs,

improved decision making, self-organization, and knowledge and improvement

through empiricism.

Provide greater fan satisfaction: Greater fan satisfaction is achieved by exciting

game play and continuous improvement.

Deliver results quicker: Goals are reached faster through data, transparency,

inspection, adaptation, self-organization and synergy.


Increase team IQ: Increased sports IQ and player agility through player agility cards,

performance dashboards and self-organization.

Maximize agility: Forces players to find ways they can add value and forces teams to

increase value on a Sprint to Sprint basis.

Decision-based analytics: Forces teams to make decisions based on analytics and

continuous improvement through expert judgment.

Achieve synergy: Promotes team play, value creation, and self-organization, and

increased opportunities through team work.

10 Principles That Drive Agile Sports Framework™ 1. The highest priority is to reach organizational goals through team synergy and

collective team IQ.

2. Every member of the organization must know exactly how their role contributes to

the Sprint Goals.

3. Foster openness, honesty and transparency in player feedback and team analysis.

4. All organization members have buy in and accountability toward reaching team goals.

5. Players work together to determine how they will reach team goals and ensure each

player understands how their value contributes to the team’s goals.

6. Iterative processes control promotes continuous improvement and added value.

7. Synergy and continuous improvement are enhanced through analytics.

8. The best results and team performance comes from self-organizing teams.

9. After each Sprint the team reflects on how to become more effective, from the

players to the assistant coaches to the analysts.

10. Empiricism is achieved through a balance of veteran coaches, known outcomes and

lessons learned from the previous Sprints. Knowledge is fed back into the algorithms

for metric value readjustment.


Six Pillars of the Agile Sports Framework™ There are six pillars that form the foundation of the Agile Sports Framework™ as team data is

transformed into action on the court, field or ice: data, transparency, inspection, adaptation,

self-organization and synergy.

Data The core of Agile Sports’ adaptation and decision making process is data and analytics. The

organization must fully commit to discovering new ways of interpreting data, measuring

agility and creating value. Agility refers to a player’s ability to adapt their playing style in

order to help the team fulfill their needs and achieve their goals. Agility is discovered through

empiricism and evolutionary analytics performed and inspected incrementally.

Transparency All tools and events of the Agile Sports process must be visible to the players and coaching

staff, who are responsible for delivering the outcome on the court. Transparency requires

that the definition and value of metrics be clear, as well as a definition of their successful

execution.

For example:

A common language of what constitutes agility must be shared by all participants;

and,

All stakeholders must understand the definition of success.

Inspection The team must frequently inspect their performance analytics and progress toward their

Sprint Goals and overall goal to detect performance variances. Inspections should be

frequent and performed by the lead analyst. Inspections are most beneficial when

performed regularly and decisions are based on a combination of analytics and expert

judgment. The body of work for inspection should be at least one Sprint.

Adaptation If the lead analyst determines that one or more areas of the team or player’s goals deviate

outside acceptable limits (defined at the beginning of the process), and the resulting

performance is unacceptable, the strategy must be adjusted. An adjustment must be

made immediately to minimize goal and value deviation.


Agile Sports consists of five key events which drive inspection, adaptation, self-organization

and synergy. These events are described in the Agile Sports Events section of this document:

The Sprint

Sprint Planning Session

Post-Game Meeting

Sprint Review Meeting

Sprint Retrospective

Self-Organization Self-organization is a fundamental concept in Agile Sports. Self-organization does not

mean that players instead of managers control the team strategy and execution. Nor

does it mean letting players do whatever they want to do. It means that management

commits to guiding the evolution towards synergy, which emerges from the interaction

of players, committed to team goals and learning through inspection, adaptation, self-

organization and empiricism.

The coach clarifies to players what the team objectives are for each 5 or 10 Game Sprint,

and players (along with the lead analyst and assistant coach’s guidance) determine how

they will add value. But they are nonetheless self-organizing, with influence from those

who can assist them in achieving the team goal (such as analyst creating ways of

measuring agility and the coach adopting new offensive/defensive strategies). The

player’s job is to self-organize around team challenges, boundaries, and constraints

identified by the lead analyst or coach. The less constraints or controls put on a team

the better. If the coach over manages how the team plays, self-organization and team

synergy will be constrained and creativity and production will be limited.

Synergy Synergy is the state that every team should strive to reach and maintain. Synergy is the

collective ability for all team members to be able to interpret in real time the

opponents’ game plan and know exactly how each team member will react, based on

the team philosophy and game situation. Synergy occurs when a team learns which

strategies are most effective for their unique makeup and how to work as a single unit

to achieve the team goals. The Agile Sports Framework™ helps teams identify these

strategies and achieve synergy faster.

Key Roles of an Agile Sports Organization The key members of the Agile Sports Framework™ are the lead analyst, coaches, players, and

the Agile Sports Consultant. Secondary roles include the owner, architect, General Manager,

front office, scouts, event staff, fans and other stakeholders. Players are self-organizing and


versatile (cover a wide range of skill sets and attributes). Self-organizing teams determine

the best way to accomplish their goals, with direction from the coaching staff. The

continuous improvement model in Agile Sports is designed to maximize agility, performance

and synergy.

In Agile Sports teams execute their plans and improve performance incrementally. This

allows them to evaluate (inspect) and make adjustments (adapt) frequently, and increase

their chances of staying on track and meeting team objectives.

The Agile Sports Analytics Application, developed by Victor Holman, supports the roles that

drive Agile Sports.

Lead Analyst The lead analyst is responsible for maximizing the results on the court through analytics

and shaping the goals of the Sprint, as well as the overall objectives. In Agile Sports, the

lead analyst is the head decision-maker in the data/analytics team. The lead analyst is

responsible for team data, the interpretation of data, and reporting performance. This

person translates the needs and goals of the team to the player’s performance. The lead

analyst clarifies any details regarding the team’s focus and areas for improvement, and is

responsible for maintaining a dashboard that lists and prioritizes the target metrics and

goals, and recommends the planned agility for each Sprint. It’s the lead analysts’

responsibility to analyze what metrics and strategies drive organizational success and

constantly search for new ways of interpreting data, so that players can understand it, and

most important identify new ways of adding value to the team.

The lead analyst has the following additional roles:

Communicates the team’s progress towards its overall goals and presents the

results to key stakeholders.

Identifies key analytics and recommends areas for team and player improvement,

and ways the team can reach their long-term goals.

Gathers data, identifies key attributes and analytics that align to team objectives,

prioritizes areas for improvement, and manages player and team statistical

reporting.

The lead analyst is responsible for maximizing player productivity and identifying areas of

concern as quickly as possible.

The lead analyst is responsible for managing the Agility Points Portfolio. Agility Points

Portfolio management includes:


Clearly defining Sprint performance metrics and their associated value and agility

scores,

Ordering the metrics in the Agility Points Portfolio to best achieve goals and missions,

Optimizing player performance through their Player Agility Cards,

Ensuring that the Agility Points Portfolio is transparent and shows what the team is

trying to accomplish during the Sprint, and,

Ensuring that players understand the metrics in the Agility Points Portfolio and what

each can do in order to add value and accomplish the Sprint Goals.

The lead analyst is one person. They may represent the analytic team or stakeholder group’s

recommendations, but those wanting to change the goals, metrics and/or their agility must

do so through the lead analyst.

In order for the lead analyst to be successful, all stakeholders must buy into their decisions.

The lead analyst’s decisions are transparent in the Agility Points Portfolio. No one is allowed

to change player or team goals, except the lead analyst. However, coaches and players

decide who these goals are.

Players The players consist of the athletes who deliver the organization’s product on the court. They

are the individuals responsible for setting and meeting their Sprint Goals and executing their

roles which contribute to the team’s overall objective.

Through their planned Player Agility Cards players can manage their game plan on how they

will add value and help achieve team goals (see Player Agility Cards for more details). With

the assistance of the lead analyst and/or coaching staff, the players use data to identify how

they can add value and contribute to each game. Provided the metrics are valued correctly,

the player’s and team’s overall efficiency and effectiveness will be optimized.

Players also provide recommendations to the lead analyst into areas they believe data could

be organized to help them play with more synergy.

Players have the following characteristics:

Players on the team are self-organizing. No one dictates to the players how to

achieve their target agility scores during the Sprint,

Continuously building their skill-set and sports IQ to self-organize and build synergy,

Agile Sports Framework™ does not recognize ranking or seniority for players,

regardless of age, experience or salary. Players are measured by their ability to

create and add value,


While some Individual players may have key strengths or skillsets that clearly add

value, they are encouraged to identify and learn new skillsets that add value in the

areas the team needs skills the most, and

The whole team shares equal accountability.

In Agile Sports, the way the players work together to create synergy is the top priority. The

boundaries between player status and role are torn down for the goal of working as a team

instead of a group of individual players. Team members are encouraged to be versatile and

grow beyond their skillset and specialty. Because team members are versatile, they gain skills

beyond their primary roles, and can be used more effectively. Some players may be reluctant

to give up the role where they feel comfortable or have the most expertise, for fear they may

lose relevance or value. The opposite is true with the Agile Sports Framework™. Players learn

to create value in the areas where the team needs them the most, even if those areas are not

where the player perceives their value to be. This helps players grow and learn how to create

value, which ultimately will allow them to stay in the league longer by sending a message to

other teams that they are team players, goal oriented and willing to learn and adapt their

game.

Coach The coach is the team decision maker and works closely with the lead analyst. While this role

functions much like a traditional coach, the self-organizing principles of Agile Sports open up

the possibilities of utilizing a player-coach for this role. Players such as Lebron James, Russell

Westbrook, Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers, Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby are a few who

possess the qualities to possibly fulfill the dual function of player/coach. The coach’s job is

to guide the team toward synergy, where all players are working together on both sides of

the court, field or ice, delivering the agility scores they commit to during Sprint Planning (see

Estimating Player “Agility” toward Team Goals to learn more about measuring agility). The

coach guides the team in executing the game plan and adjusting the strategy as necessary to

win games. They are the leader in team conversations and validating that all team members

have total buy-in into the team’s strategy. They are responsible for ensuring the team stays

focused on the Sprint Goals, and overall team objectives. The coach facilitates

communication, empowers the team to self-organize and optimize its strategy, ensures that

the team’s voice is heard across all stakeholder groups, and works with the lead analyst to

prepare the game plan.

Architect Team architecture is a key source of success and risk, and the architect is responsible for

ensuring the team is built around players that complement each other, fit the team identity

and can build and sustain value. The architect is the person who owns the personnel


decisions for the team and who facilitates the creation and evolution of the overall team

identity.

Some owners are more closely involved in player personnel decisions, while others leave

these decisions to the architect, GM, scouts and assistant coaches. The architect can be the

owner, however the rule of empiricism and analytics within the Agile Sports Framework™

suggest that the decision maker(s) for player personnel be an expert in the sport, an

analytics guru and able to map player acquisitions (drafts and free agents) to the

performance needs and goals defined by the lead analyst. For non-professional teams, the

architect is the coach.

General Manager General Managers oversee the business and financial operations of the team, thus making it

critical that the GM, architect and lead analyst share common strategy for helping the team

achieve its goals. The lead analyst is responsible for prioritizing the needs and performance

goals of the team. The architect is responsible for recommending the players that best fill

the unmet needs or goals identified by the lead analyst. The General Manager can be the

architect.

The General Manager takes the feedback received from the lead analyst, scouts and

architect during each Sprint Review Meeting, and integrates feedback into the decision

making process.

GMs also have an important public relations role. They oversee the day-to-day operations

and short-and long-term strategic planning. Effective GMs surround themselves with a

rounded staff capable of making sure they have all the information necessary to make a

decision.

Assistant Coaches Assistant coaches help the players develop their skills and knowledge of the game. They

share their experience with the players, and help the players reach their Sprint target

metrics and maximize their agility. The key role of assistant coaches is to make sure player

IQs are growing, and that the players are developing synergy. Ideal assistant coaches are

former coaches or players with deep understanding of spatial data, improving offensive and

defensive efficiency, and teaching players how to react off the ball or puck. They have a track

record for promoting ball movement, player movement and team synergy, in addition to

exploiting analytics from spatial data.


Scouts The job of a scout is to evaluate players on their strengths, weaknesses and ability to add

value to the team. The ultimate goal of scouts is to identify the players who can add the

greatest contribution to achieving the team’s goals. Scouts deliver reports that identify these

players and their availability status (free agency or trade). Through Agile Sports, a scout can

persuade a player to join the team because the data and analytics supports the value they

can add to achieving the team’s goals.

Scouts are team ambassadors and are responsible for creating relationships with players

around the league, specifically players who can buy into the team’s Agile Sports philosophy

and help the team achieve its goal.

Scouts must have a keen eye for identifying and rating players in their league, developmental

league, international leagues, college and high school whose style is consistent with the team

identity. While there are some stats and performance indicators that can indicate an external

player’s compatibility with the team’s players and philosophy, scouts must be skilled at

evaluating the intangibles, or attributes that can’t be quantifiably measured.

The Agile Sports Consultant The Agile Sports Consultant is responsible for ensuring the Agile Sports Framework™ is

understood and executed successfully. Agile Sports Consultants do this by providing

feedback and recommendations to ensure that the team adheres to Agile Sports principles,

processes, and rules.

The Agile Sports Consultant is a passive-leader for the organization who helps stakeholders

understand how to effectively communicate with the players how they can maximize value

and performance.

Role of Advisor to the Lead Analyst

The Agile Sports Consultant advises the lead analyst in several ways, including:

Providing techniques for effective Agility Points Portfolio management;

Helping the lead analyst develop clear and concise Agility Points Portfolio goals and

metrics;

Understanding Sprints and Sprint Performance Planning and using past known

outcomes for adaptation and refinement;

Ensuring the lead analyst knows how to prioritize the Agility Points Portfolio metrics

to maximize performance and player agility;

Comprehending and executing agile principles;

Facilitating Agile Sports Framework™ events when requested.


Role of Advisor to the Players

The Agile Sports Consultant advises the players in the following ways:

Coaching the players in self-organization and understanding how to add value;

Helping players assess what they must do to perform at the highest level;

Removing obstacles that impede on a player’s or the team’s progress;

Role of Advisor to the Organization

The Agile Sports Consultant advises the organization in several ways, including:

Providing leadership in adopting Agile Sports Framework™ processes;

Helping plan Sprints throughout the season;

Helping the team and stakeholders understand and implement the Agile Sports

Framework™; and maximize player and team performance;

Recommending changes that build upon the six pillars of Agile Sports.

Agile Sports Events Prescribed events are used in the Agile Sports Framework™ to create consistency and to

maximize team performance throughout each Sprint as the team strives to reach its overall

goal. All events have a maximum time frame and must be completed within that time to

avoid distraction from day to day operations and activities.

Aside from the Sprint, which comprises of the other Agile Sports Events (The Sprint, Sprint

Planning Session, Sprint Review Meeting, Sprint Retrospective and Post Game Meetings),

each event in Agile Sports serves the purpose of increasing transparency, promoting

inspection and self-organization, and building synergy. Failing to deliver on any of these

events throughout the process can result in undesirable performance.

The Agile Sports Analytics Software, developed by Victor Holman, supports the events that

drive Agile Sports.

The Sprint The core of the Agile Sports Framework™ is a Sprint, an incremental schedule of typically 5

or 10 games during which a set of specific target metrics and goals are planned and

accomplished. It is recommended that each of the Sprints have a consistent number of

games to ensure consistency when measuring progress and effectiveness of various

strategies and game plans implemented throughout the season. When the Sprint is

completed, the next Sprint begins immediately.


Sprints contain and include the Sprint Planning Session, the scheduled games, the Post-Game

Meetings, the Sprint Review Meeting, and the Sprint Retrospective.

During the Sprint the following rules apply:

Adjustments cannot be made to the Agility Points Portfolio that keeps team from

reaching the Sprint Goal,

Existing performance benchmarks do not decrease, and,

Players can change the metrics they plan to achieve as long as it does not decrease

their planned agility,

Goals may be re-negotiated between the lead analyst and player(s) as more is

learned regarding the value of metrics.

Each Sprint is considered a period of performance over a set amount of games where

evaluation and necessary adjustments are made. Sprints are used to get players accustomed

to hitting target goals and improving upon an area of weakness or other attribute deemed

critical to achieving the organization’s overall goal. Each Sprint has a definition of the goal to

be accomplished, a plan that will be followed, how success will be defined, and the results.

For professional sports with longer seasons, a 10 game sprint is optimal. For teams with less

than 50 games in a season, a five game sprint is more effective. When a Sprint’s duration is

too long the strategy and plan to accomplish it may change, focus may diminish, and

performance may decrease. The predictability of Sprints are increased through empiricism

gained through incremental inspection and adaptation, and by measuring progress toward

overall team goals. Sprints also limit unidentified performance issues to 5 (or 10) games or

less.

Sprint Breakdown

In a season like the NBA and NHL, which consists of between 6-8 preseason games and 82

regular games (totaling approximately 90 games), there would be 9 Sprints with the first

Sprint beginning on the first game of the preseason. The Sprint breakdown would be as

follows:

Sprints 1 and 2 - Focus on gathering a performance baseline (preseason plus first 12-14

games)

Sprints 3 through 7 – Making performance adjustments, evaluating player compatibility and

ROI, learning which performance improvement strategies yield the greatest results. Making

trades based on the lead analyst recommendations.


Sprints 8 and 9 – Fine tuning strategy, increasing synergy, adjusting goals based on historical

Sprint data and performance.

Sprints 10+ - Playoffs. Maintaining state of synergy.

Sprint Planning Session The metrics to be achieved during the Sprint is determined at the Sprint Planning Session.

The Sprint Plan is a collaborative work among the lead analyst, coaching staff and players.

Sprint Planning Sessions are limited to a maximum of eight hours for a ten game Sprint.

The majority of that time is dedicated to the coaching staff and analyst inspecting and

making adjustments from the previous Sprint. The Agile Sports Consultant ensures that the

Sprint Planning Session takes place and that everybody understands its purpose. The Agile

Sports Consultant teaches the team to keep the session within the eight hour time frame.

Sprint Planning Sessions answer the following:

What areas can we improve and which goals can we reach in the upcoming Sprint?

How will the players deliver the desired results?

What will the team need to do in order to achieve its Sprint Goals?

What areas can we improve?

The lead analyst works with the players to forecast the performance results they will need to

deliver during the Sprint. The lead analyst discusses the Sprint objective and metrics in the

Performance Metric Log which are critical to reaching the Sprint Goal. The team collaborates

on the plan to achieve the Sprint Goal. It usually takes a few Sprints for the lead analyst to

create accurate agility estimates, but once metric impacts are better understood and scores

are tweaked, results can become predictable.

The inputs to this meeting are the Performance Dashboard, the previous Sprint results,

projected capabilities of the players during the upcoming Sprint, and past performance of

the players. The value of metrics selected from the Performance Dashboard comprises the

player’s Planned Agility for the upcoming Sprint. During Sprint Planning, players receive a

Player Agility Card which has the team performance metrics and their associated agility

scores for that player for each game within the Sprint (based on the player’s matchup

strength). The selected metrics to be achieved on each Player Agility Card are the sole

decision of the players. Only the players can determine what performance goals they can

achieve during the upcoming Sprint. However, the combined player’s Total Planned Agility

should be equal to or greater than the lead analyst’s Recommended Team Agility. A key role

for the players is to encourage their team mates to push themselves and set challenging


goals that will help the team maximize value and achieve its overall goal. This is a self-

organization characteristic of the Agile Sports Framework™.

After the players and lead analyst forecast performance for the upcoming Agility Points

Portfolio and agility scores are estimated, the team develops the Sprint Goal, which are the

objectives that should be met during the Sprint by executing the Sprint Strategy and

achieving the metrics listed in the Agility Points Portfolio.

How will players deliver desired results?

Now that the Sprint Goal and the selected Agility Points Portfolio metrics are identified, the

players must decide how they will accomplish their goals during the Sprint. This forms the

team’s Sprint Strategy. The Agility Points Portfolio metrics selected for this Sprint, plus the

plan developed to deliver them is the Sprint Strategy.

The players usually start by developing personal and team strategies needed to accomplish

the Agility Points Portfolio metrics selected. The value of metrics listed may vary from Sprint

to Sprint, depending on the matchups throughout the Sprint. The goal is to increase agility

points each Sprint. The lead analyst determines what the key metrics are to achieve their

Sprint Goal (planned agility and expected wins/losses). Players forecast what performance

metrics they believe they can accomplish in the upcoming Sprint. The strategy for the first

few games of the Sprint is outlined during this meeting. The players self-organize to execute

the Sprint Strategy, both during the Sprint Planning Session and as needed throughout the

Sprint. Coaches and the Assistant Coaches guide players toward a state of synergy.

The lead analyst can help to clarify the selected Agility Points Portfolio metrics and make

trade-offs if higher value metrics are identified or team circumstances change.

As a result of the Sprint Planning Session, the players should be able to explain to the

lead analyst, coach, and key stakeholders how they intend to accomplish the Sprint

Goal and deliver the anticipated performance (through their Player Agility Cards). This

forms the self-organizing concept of The Agile Sports Framework, where players

contribute to and have buy-in to the strategy and what they must do to create and

sustain value.

What will the Team need in order to achieve its Sprint Goal?

There will be times, based on the data and/or the feedback from players when it becomes

evident that a player change will need to be made in order to give the team the skills it

needs to reach its goals. Frequent inspections and continuous adaptation help make player

decisions easier, as the lead analyst is able to provide the organization with specific key

attributes and skills the team needs in order the fill performance or skill gaps. And scouts are


able to identify the players who fulfill these needs. The Agile Sports Consultant and lead

analyst are responsible for ensuring that these decisions are available and backed by solid

data.

Sprint Goal

The Sprint Goal is a set of metrics for the Sprint that the individual players and the team as a

whole can meet to achieve its planned outcome (wins-losses and total agility). It provides

clarification into how reaching the goals of the Sprint contribute to the overall team goal.

The Sprint Goals are identified during the Sprint Planning Session meeting. The player’s

planned agility, the team’s planned agility and the projected wins/losses comprise the Sprint

Goal. The Sprint Goals become the set of objectives that encourage the players to work

together to achieve team goals. When the team deviates from its overall goal, the coach

makes adjustments to strategy and team analyst re-evaluates metric values in the upcoming

Sprint.

During practices and games, players keep the Sprint Goal in mind. If unplanned events

cause a player or players to not be able to achieve their Sprint objectives (such as injury,

suspension, major slump, trade), they collaborate among themselves and with help from

assistant coaches and analysts to identify how other players can pick up the slack to avoid

renegotiating the Sprint Goal.

Post-Game Meeting The Post-Game Meeting is a 15-minute event for the players to reflect on the game and

create/validate their plan for the next game. This allows the team to decide if the

adjustments made from the previous game were effective.

The Post-Game Meeting is held at consistent times (such as immediately following the game)

to reduce complexity and promote consistency). During the meeting, the players review the

stat sheets as they compare to their individual and team goals (planned agility) and they

make self and team assessments on the following:

• How did I perform this game against my assigned metrics?

• What areas I’ll improve on next game?

• What obstacles may jeopardize team from meeting our Sprint Goal?

The Post-Game Meeting allows the team to inspect the impact of the previous game’s

adjustments as well as make adjustments if progress is deviating away from the Sprint Goal.

The Post-Game Meeting increases the probability that the players and team as a whole

maintain buy-in to the strategy and meet their Sprint Goals. Every game, the players should

understand their plan for working together as a self-organizing, synergistic team to achieve


their goals. The Post-Game Meeting offers quick detailed discussions necessary to determine

whether adaptation or re-planning is necessary to achieve the Sprint’s Goal.

The team members (players and coaching staff) are the only ones required to attend the

Post-Game Meeting. The Agile Sports Consultant ensures that the post-game meeting takes

place and that the key questions are answered by each of the players, but the players and

coach are responsible for conducting the meeting and assessing their performance. The Agile

Sports Consultant teaches the players to keep the Post-Game Meetings within the 15-minute

time frame and to be open, honest and true to themselves and their team mates.

Post-Game Meetings improve communications, eliminate confusion of team/player goals,

quickly identify issues the team needs to resolve, and improve player IQ level. They are an

opportunity for players to identify and address bad habits before team synergy deteriorates.

Post-Game Meetings support the pillars of inspect, adapt, self-organize and synergy.

Sprint Review Meeting Sprint Review Meetings are held at the completion of each Sprint. The purpose of the

meeting is to inspect the results of the Sprint and adapt the Agility Points Portfolio metrics

and agility for next Sprint, if needed. During the Sprint Review Meeting, the team and invited

attendees discuss what they achieved during the Sprint, what they need to improve upon in

the upcoming Sprint and any obstacles or challenges that may keep the team from meeting

its overall objectives. Based on this collaboration, as well as any changes to the Agility Points

Portfolio during the Sprint, the team determines the next metrics that need to be

incorporated to the upcoming Sprint to optimize performance and produce wins. This is an

informal meeting and the purpose is to gather feedback and foster transparency among the

team.

The Sprint Review Meeting is a four-hour meeting following each Sprint. The Agile Sports

Consultant ensures that the Sprint Review Meeting takes place and that everyone

understands its purpose. The Agile Sports Consultant ensures that the meeting stays within

the four-hour time frame.

The Sprint Review Meeting involves the following steps:

The lead analyst invites the team and key stakeholders to the Sprint Review Meeting;

The lead analyst presents which Agility Points Portfolio metrics were achieved and

which ones were not;

The lead analyst presents potential new areas for improvement, and/or new

analytics to observe and evaluate;

The players discuss what went well during the Sprint, what challenges they faces, and

how those challenges were overcome, or will be resolved in the upcoming Sprint;


The lead analyst discusses the Agility Points Portfolio as it stands, and projects the

likely performance targets necessary to be met in order to reach team goals;

The entire group collaborates on how it will collectively, and individually, meet

performance goals in the upcoming Sprint, which becomes an input to the Sprint

Planning Session;

Review of fan and management approval of the product that the organization is

putting on the court;

Discussion on any risks (changes, distractions or obstacles) that may keep the team

from reaching its goals. This allows teams to address off court issues that could

potentially affect team chemistry and gain buy-in on how issues will be handled.

The result of the Sprint Review Meeting is an updated Agility Points Portfolio that defines the

probable performance goals for the next Sprint. The Agility Points Portfolio may also be

adjusted to reflect changes that occurred in the previous Sprint or anticipated changes in the

upcoming Sprint, such as trades, lineup changes, injuries, etc.

Sprint Retrospective The Sprint Retrospective is a three hour meeting, which follows the Sprint Review Meeting

and precedes the upcoming Sprint Planning Session (preferably the first day off). The Sprint

Retrospective allows the team to inspect its performance and make adjustments for the next

Sprint. The Agile Sports Consultant ensures that the Sprint Retrospective takes place and

that attendees are clear on the objective of the meeting. The Agile Sports Consultant

teaches the team to manage the meeting within the time frame. The Agile Sports Consultant

is a participant in this meeting and provides oversight for the Agile Sports process.

The purpose of the Sprint Retrospective is to:

Inspect the previous Sprint and evaluate its efficiency and effectiveness in terms of

player collaboration, self-organization, goal attainment, and wins;

Identify and order the performance targets that were hit and missed, and potential

improvements; and,

Identify any obstacles or challenges that may keep the team from reaching its goals.

During the Sprint Retrospective the Agile Sports Consultant helps the team improve, within

the Agile Sports Framework™, its performance improvement processes, self-organizing

processes and execution in the next Sprint. The team collaborates on ways it can increase

synergy and quality of play.

The results of the Sprint Retrospective is the identification of performance improvement

strategies and player efficiencies that it will apply during the next Sprint. The application of

these improvements and efficiencies in the upcoming Sprint is the core of the adaptation


principle in the Agile Sports Framework. While improvements are constantly being sought

out and implemented throughout the season, post-season and even during games, the

Sprint Retrospective provides another chance for the team to focus on inspection and

adaptation.

Game Management Game management is key for any team’s success. The ability to know when to make

substitutions, call time outs, foul, etc. can be the difference between regaining control of

momentum and being the victim of a 15+ point or 2+ goal run.

The coach is responsible for managing the game plan. In an Agile Sports organization, the

coach leverages player feedback and analytics to craft and gain buy-in to strategy.

The assistant coaches are responsible for creating advanced scouting reports for upcoming

games and offering the coach suggestions during the game based on that advance scouting.

Assistant coaches are responsible for tracking data during the game, which, combined with

an analytic or stat tool can provide key insight for the coaching staff, and provide real time

decisions.

Agile Sports Framework™ Tools Agile Sports tools are the products and tools that provide transparency of data and

opportunities for inspection, adaptation, self-organization and synergy. The tools that drive

the Agile Sports Framework™ are designed to maintain data transparency, so that everyone

in the organization has a common understanding of what the data means. This ensures that

management decisions and player agility is optimized.

The Agile Sports Analytics Application, developed by Victor Holman, supports the tools that

drive the Agile Sports Framework™.

Performance Metrics Log The Performance Metrics Log is a prioritized list of team and player metrics created by the

lead analyst, which reflects input from past data and performance, and stakeholders (such as

the owner, GM, and fans through polls). Inputs include organizational goals and objectives,

past Sprint performance data and any new metrics identified during the Sprint Review and

Sprint Retrospective. The Performance Metric Log is the key input to the Agility Points

Portfolio. As the team gets a better understanding of how metrics impact the game and add

value towards reaching player and team goals, the lead analyst is able to assign more

accurate metric values and Recommended Team Agility for upcoming Sprints.


Sprint Performance Dashboard The Sprint Performance Dashboard provides views and access into all the tools within the

Agile Sports Framework. It offers analysts, coaches, players and scouts views and accessibility

into team performance, strategy and Player Agility Cards.

Agility Points Portfolio The Agility Points Portfolio is an ordered list of all of the metrics in the Performance

Metrics Log identified by the lead analyst to be included in the upcoming Sprint. The lead

analyst is the owner of the Agility Points Portfolio and translates team goals and objectives

into key performance metrics. The lead analyst assigns an agility score to each

performance metric (see Estimating Player “Agility” toward Team Goals and Tracking

Velocity). The lead analyst also provides the Recommended Team Agility for the team and

players to strive for as their Sprint Goal.

The Agility Points Portfolio is a continuous work in progress. The first iterations of the

Agility Points Portfolio lays out the initial baseline of metrics. The Agility Points Portfolio

evolves as the players and team performance evolves and as new metrics are identified.

The Agility Points Portfolio is constantly changing as the lead analyst assesses what the

most valuable performance metrics and stats are which translate to the team’s ability to

win and achieve its goals. When the season is over, the Agility Points Portfolio is used to

make off season player adjustment decisions and to shape the following season’s goals.

As players understand how their role, on a game to game basis, adds value and contributes

to the team’s success, and as the lead analyst identifies new ways to measure agility and add

synergy, the Agility Points Portfolio provides more insight into the team’s progress and

forecasted performance. Performance improvement opportunities never stop presenting

themselves, and thus the Agility Points Portfolio is always highlighting new ways to measure

agility.

The Agility Points Portfolio can be refined by reprioritizing metrics, fine tuning recommended

agility, or adding new performance metrics to the Agility Points Portfolio. The Agility Points

Portfolio metrics can only be updated by the lead analyst.

Higher priority Agility Points Portfolio metrics are usually more aligned to the team’s overall

goal and more clear than lower priority metrics. More precise estimates are made based on

experience from past Agility Points Portfolios and increased understanding of agility score

for each metric. The players are responsible for estimating the value they plan to deliver.

The lead analyst may help the player by clarifying what must be done to achieve success or

by renegotiating metric value, but the players, the ones who deliver the outcomes,

determine how they’ll deliver value. This forces players to push themselves, and since they

are setting their performance goals (with the assistance of the lead analyst and coaching


staff) they are more inclined to achieve those goals and identify new ways they can create

value. This, in turn, makes players who are capable of creating their own value, much more

valuable to the team. This is the win/win for both players and owners in the Agile Sports

Framework™.

The Agility Points Portfolio does not replace existing performance reporting. It is an

extension of the team’s analytics program and increases empiricism.

Sprint Performance Plan The Sprint Performance Plan is the set of Agility Points Portfolio metrics selected for the

Sprint, plus the Sprint Strategy for realizing the team’s Sprint Goal. The Sprint Performance

Plan is a forecast by the players about what metrics will be achieved and the strategy to

achieve those goals and deliver a successful Sprint. The coach is responsible for providing the

Sprint Strategy for both the team and the players.

The Sprint Performance Plan adds transparency to the team and player game plans and the

performance results necessary to reach Sprint Goals.

The Sprint Performance Plan provides enough detail to clarify what each player and what

the team as a whole is expected to deliver. Progress towards the Sprint Performance Plan is

discussed during the Post-Game Meetings. Players submit their Player Agility Cards before

the Sprint, the team crafts its strategy, and the Sprint Performance Plan is created. This plan

becomes more precise each Sprint as the team learns more about how metrics impact their

ability to achieve Sprint Goals.

As the Sprint is completed, the estimated remaining progress to reach the team’s overall

goal is updated. When performance metrics and/or strategies in the plan are deemed

successful for a series of consecutive Sprints (two or more), the value of the metric is

reduced, so that new areas of performance can take focus and be improved upon. This is

measured through Burndown Charts, comparing sprint performance and utilizing trending

tools, which measure the teams’ progress towards achieving its performance goals (see

Burndown Charts for more information). The Sprint Performance Plan is a highly visible

outline of the goals that the players and team plan to achieve during the Sprint, along with

the Sprint Strategy.

Player Agility Cards The Agile Sports Framework™ provides a simple way for players to plan and achieve sprint

goals and overall team goals through Player Agility Cards. Player Agility Cards are each

player’s list of the metrics (along with their agility scores) the lead analyst deems as

important toward achieving the Sprint Goal. Think of Player Agility Cards as a menu for

players, where they have a budget and must select a number of items, or metrics whose


total agility equals or exceeds the budget, or Planned Agility. Player Agility Cards are like

fantasy sports for the athletes, where they earn agility points based on their actual

performance. Each sprint the player can review and adjust their Player Agility Card, which is

provided by the lead analyst. Player Agility Cards represent each player’s individual plan for

helping the team achieve its Sprint Goals. Player Agility Cards play into inspect, adapt, and

self-organize functionality.

Team Agility Cards Team Agility Cards are like Player Agility Cards, but include metrics which the team as a

group commits to achieving during each sprint. Team Agility Cards measure the team’s

planned and actual values and are the inputs for the Player Agility Cards. Together they drive

team goals and maximize player agility.

Burndown Charts In Agile Sports, burndown charts are used for tracking progress toward achieving the key

performance metrics identified by the lead analyst in the Performance Metrics Log. Burn

down charts are graphical representations of team performance metrics left to achieve

versus the schedule. The outstanding key metrics to achieve (or backlog) is often on the

vertical axis, with time along the horizontal axis. The definition for successfully achieving a

key metric must be understood by all stakeholders. Remember, the metrics in the

Performance Metrics Log are key metrics that the lead analyst identified as critical for

achieving synergy and reaching team goals. Burndown charts allow the team to predict when

they will be playing at the level needed to achieve their season goals. Burndown Charts are

part of the inspect and adapt functionality.

10 Game Increment The 10 Game Increment is the value of all the Agility Points Portfolio metrics successfully

delivered during the current Sprint, and the sum value of the previous Sprints. The number

of wins is the main goal for measuring success of the Sprint and agility points reflects team

growth, or its ability to achieve greater success in the key areas that impact goal attainment.

See Estimating Player “Agility” toward Team Goals and Tracking Velocity for more

explanation on how to measure agility. The concept is through incremental inspection and

adaption, empiricism is increased and metric value becomes a key indicator for predicting

team success.

Sprint Scouting Reports Scouting reports are a keystone of the team’s game strategy and player acquisition strategy.

In the Agile Sports Framework™, the assistant coaches are responsible for evaluating

opponent performance and providing pre-game scouting reports for the games within the


Sprint. Pre-game scouting reports help the coach plan the team strategy for the upcoming

Sprint.

In addition to the pre-game scouting reports, there are also player scouting reports which are

provided by the scout team. Scouts are responsible for evaluating elite players across the

globe on their strengths, weaknesses and ability to add value to the team, based on data and

observation.

At the end of each Sprint the coaching staff deliver Sprint Scouting Reports that identify

players that fit the team’s identity, their priority rankings, the areas where they can add

value to the team and its mission, and which of these player’s rights will soon be available

through free agency or trade. The Scouting Reports are presented briefly during the Sprint

Review Meeting and sent to front office for further assessment.

Post-Game Surveys Following each game, the players, coaches, assistant coaches and analyst take a post-game

survey, which captures the mood of the team and it’s on court effectiveness. Post-game

surveys consists of five questions covering the following topics: Game Plan, Team Synergy,

Defensive Support, Strategy Execution and Value Creation. Results of the surveys are

displayed in the reporting section of the Sprint Performance Dashboard and can be used to

create parallels between strategies and team synergy.

Sprint Schedule The Sprint Schedule captures all of the games and activities during the sprint. In the Agile

Sports Analytics Application the following activities and deadlines are captured in the Sprint

Schedule:

Game dates, opponents and times

Sprint Review/Retrospective meetings (typically on the first non-game day following

previous sprint)

Sprint Planning meetings (typically on the first non-game day following previous

sprint)

Submitting Player Agility Cards and Team Agility Cards (the day of the last game of

the previous sprint)

Submitting Post Game Surveys (following each game of the sprint)

Submitting Post Game Review Notes (following each game of the sprint)

Submitting the Sprint Strategy (the day following the last game of the previous sprint)

The Importance of Artifact Transparency Agile Sports relies on transparency in order for the team to succeed. Transparency in the

data, transparency in the player’s feedback, transparency in the team goals and


transparency in the outcomes. Decisions to optimize value, make personnel decisions and

craft a strategy are dependent on the quality and transparency of the data that the team

collects and analyzes. If transparency is achieved, decisions can be based on quantitative

analysis. If the data and analysis are not transparent, the resulting decisions will be poor,

value and performance will diminish, and team winning may be compromised.

The Agile Sports Consultant works with the lead analyst, the team and management to

ensure the tools are clear and understood by all stakeholders. It’s the Agile Sports

Consultant’s job to detect transparency issues by inspecting the tools, seeking out trends,

paying attention to feedback, and highlighting deltas between planned and actual results.

The Agile Sports Consultant is responsible for ensuring the organization maintains tool

transparency and encourages player feedback. This involves observation, an understanding

of team culture, persuasion, and adaptation.

Monitoring Team Progress in Agile Sports Monitoring team progress is one of the cornerstones of the inspection, adaption, self-

organization and synergy pillars. This section outlines the Agile Sports process for monitoring

team progress.

Monitoring Sprint Progress During Sprints, team and player performance and value can be compared to their projected

performance in the Sprint Strategy. The lead analyst tracks performance and players assess

their actual agility every Post-Game Meeting to project the chances of achieving their Sprint

Goals. By tracking performance throughout the Sprint, the team can manage their progress

and make adjustments to ensure that they are on track and deliver the value necessary to

win games and contribute to the team goal.

The Agile Sports Analytics Application, developed by Victor Holman, measures team progress

toward achieving Sprint Goals.

Monitoring Progress towards Team Goals At any point in the season, the team’s actual performance can be compared to their

projected performance to determine how the team is progressing towards their goal.

The lead analyst tracks this progress at least every Sprint Review Meeting, using tools

such as burndown charts. The outstanding key metrics to achieve (or performance

backlog) is displayed on the vertical axis, with time along the horizontal


The lead analyst compares Player Planned Agility and Team Planned Agility to the actual

agility they delivered in order to assess progress toward achieving their goal. This

information is transparent to the organization.

Trending methods and tools can be used to forecast progress. But the best results are

yielded from strategies based on known outcomes, and understanding what is necessary for

the team to win games. In long seasons where countless variables exist only known

outcomes may be used for predicting Sprint performance and fine tuning metric value.

These known outcomes are the foundation that shape the lead analysts agility scoring

system.

Defining “Success” in Agile Sports When an Agility Points Portfolio metric or goal is described as “successful”, there must be

a consensus on what success means. Everyone in the organization must buy into that

shared definition of success, in order to ensure transparency. This definition of success is

used to assess Sprint Goals and validate that the team is on pace to reach its overall goal.

The same definition guides the team in knowing which Agility Points Portfolio metrics it can

commit to during Sprint Planning Sessions. The ultimate goal of each Sprint is to deliver wins

and performance results that can be defined as successful.

Players produce performance goals for each Sprint. Each Sprint Increment is added to

previous Increments during that season, and thoroughly assessed and reviewed (during

Sprint Reviews and Retrospectives), ensuring a successful season once completed.

As teams mature, their definition of success will become clearer and will include more strict

criteria for better results. Every season should have a definition of success that is a standard

for how the team is expected to perform.

Estimating Player “Agility” toward Team Goals When a lead analyst sets the key objectives of a sprint, they prioritize the performance

metrics (in the Agility Points Portfolio), assess the complexity of each metric based on the

schedule and individual matchups within the Sprint, and assigns an Agility Scoring System to

them. Agility performance metrics vary from Sprint to Sprint and player to player based on

the competition of the schedule and what the team needs him to do. This assesses the

feasibility of each metric and forces players to challenge themselves in other areas when

goals related to their strengths and skillsets are difficult to accomplish (for example, in

basketball the chances of winning the matchup of scoring or rebounding against a guard like

Russell Westbrook is low, therefore the guard in that matchup is forced to find other

performance metrics they will win in that matchup, thus creating value).


It’s very important that the entire team share a clearly defined and common understanding

of the agility point system. It offers a method of tracking progress and player contribution

toward the overall team goal. The agility system takes time and adjusting before it can

become a precise system.

The agility point system encourages players to take on greater responsibility and

accountability for identifying solutions for how they can add value and contribute to the

team goal. When players set these goals for themselves, subconsciously their play on the

court is translated to reflect them. Players subconsciously remember that they need to focus

on their help defense, crashing the boards, or making the extra pass, or closing out faster.

This subconscious connection to each player and their individual performance targets as they

relate to the overall team objective is what creates synergy, selflessness and ultimately

translates into wins.

Tracking Velocity Using the Agile Sports Framework™ At the end of each Sprint, the team looks at the performance goals reached and adds up the

number of agility points associated with those achieved metrics. The total number of agility

points gained is the team’s velocity, or production on the court, for that Sprint. After the first

few Sprints, the Analyst will start to see a trend and will be able to calculate the average

velocity. The agility point system will allow players to track their progress with a single

number, and it encourages them to aim for more key metrics in an effort to accumulate

agility points in the Sprint and gain velocity. Players see their agility based on points

accumulated by hitting performance targets rather than scoring points.

The average velocity is the total number of agility points gained, divided by the total number

of Sprints completed. For example, if the team’s velocity was…

Sprint 1 = 120 agility points




….the total number of agility points gained through the first four Sprints is 550. The average

velocity is 137.50. After the team has run a few Sprints team analysts can determine velocity

and start forecasting the team’s progress toward their goals (beyond wins and losses). The

objective is to use velocity to make sure the team is constantly improving, adding skills and

attributes that add agility.


Transitioning From Traditional Analytics to the Agile

Sports Framework™ When you adopt a new approach and process for managing an organization, there will be

obstacles. For one, there’s a learning curve that the organization must overcome. In addition,

there will be push back from some players and other organizational staff.

Organizations that decide to adopt the principles of the Agile Sports Framework™ must

invest in training key team members and educating stakeholders. Agile Sports Framework™

requires that the organization accept some changes in roles and processes. It is critical that

all team members, including coaches and analysts receive the proper Agile Sports

Framework™ training and that management commits to ongoing training to reinforce Agile

Sports values, until they become part of the organization’s culture. This ensures that

everybody is on board, understands the new process and most important, understands their

role and responsibilities.

Agile Sports training, in combination with hiring an Agile Sports consultant to oversee the

transition and to consult the organization on how to implement the framework, is the

recommended strategy for transition.

To learn more about transitioning your team to the Agile Sports Framework, contact Victor

Holman. Victor is available to work with teams to discover how they can apply these

concepts to their existing analytic platforms to measure agility, improve player IQ and create

synergy.

Victor Holman can be contacted at [email protected] or by

telephone at (888) 861-8733.

mailto:[email protected]

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